PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET
You are being invited to take part in a study focused on co-parenting in the context of separation and divorce. The research team is supervised by Dr. Melina Nicole Kyranides and Dr. Jessica Hafetz Mirman from the University of Edinburgh. Before you decide to take part it is important you take some time to read the following information.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY?
The purpose of the study is to investigate the factors that affect how people co-parent in the context of separation and divorce, like personality traits, how people think about the world, their relationships with others and what their relationship is like with their ex-partner. Some of the questions concern experiences and perceptions of partner abuse, such as coercive control. We will also ask about how ethical (right or wrong) some behaviours are, in your opinion.
WHY HAVE I BEEN INVITED TO TAKE PART?
You have been invited to take part in this study because you are an adult over the age of 18 years of age, you are a parent of at least one child of any age, and you are separating or are currently divorced from your child's or children’s other parent.
DO I HAVE TO TAKE PART?
No – your participation is voluntary. You can stop participating whenever you want with no penalty and without giving a reason.
Deciding not to participate will not affect your legal rights or healthcare. It will also not affect the care you receive from any local community organizations.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF I DECIDE TO TAKE PART?
If you want to participate you will be asked to read this information and then complete a short online questionnaire that states you have provided your informed consent. Then you will move on to completing an online survey. The survey may take between 30 to 45 minutes to complete.
You will be asked a number of questions regarding personality traits, questions about how you view the world and people's behaviours, questions regarding your relationships with other people, as well as questions about how you co-parent, how you behave in certain scenarios and how you think your ex-partner behaved in certain scenarios. Some of these questions are about behaviours like coercive control. We also ask general questions about your experience separating and divorcing from your ex-partner and how this affected you. We will also ask about your age, sex assigned at birth and current sex (if different), current and prior relationship status, sexual orientation, ethnicity, education and employment status. When you have finished the survey you will be provided with resources related to health and well-being but also resources related to these topics.
WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE BENEFITS OF TAKING PART?
There are no direct benefits to you taking part in the study. The information we collect from this study will help us better understand how people interact with others and how they co-parent. We hope to use this information to help families who are going through a divorce or separation.
ARE THERE ANY RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH TAKING PART?
There are no significant risks associated with participation. You may feel mild emotional discomfort while taking the survey due to the nature of some of the questions. If you do feel distressed, you can take a break and come back to the survey later or you can stop the survey. We also provide resources in case you feel distressed that are presented at the end of the survey. Any discomfort you feel should stop when your participation ends, or soon after.
WHAT IF I WANT TO WITHDRAW FROM THE STUDY?
You can withdraw your participation at any time without telling us. You can just stop answering questions. Please be aware that because the survey is anonymous, we are not able to identify your data specifically and delete it.
DATA PROTECTION AND CONFIDENTIALITY
Your data will be processed in accordance with Data Protection Law. All information collected about you will be kept strictly confidential. Your data are anonymised in our records. Only the research team will have access to your data. All electronic data will be stored on a password-protected server supported by the University of Edinburgh. Your anonymised data will be stored and merged with other data for future research projects and stored indefinitely.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY?
The results of this study may be summarised in dissertations, published articles, reports, policy briefing, blogs and presentations. Key findings will always be made anonymous in any formal outputs. Information may also be kept for future research.
WHO IS ORGANISING THE STUDY?
This study is organised by Dr Melina Nicole Kyranides and Dr Jessica Hafetz Mirman. The study proposal has been reviewed by the School of Health in Social Sciences ethics committee at the University of Edinburgh.
WHO CAN I CONTACT?
If you have any further questions about the study, or would like a summary of the research findings after the study is over, please contact the Research supervisor:
Dr Melina Nicole Kyranides; (melina.nicole.kyranides@ed.ac.uk)
Just to let you know, we are unable to provide individual-level results and will not have any identifying data as described above.
If you have questions about the study and want to get the opinion of someone not part of the research team you can contact Dr. Ingrid Obsuth: (ingrid.obsuth@ed.ac.uk)
COMPLAINTS
If you wish to make a complaint about the study, please contact the Head of School Prof. Matthias Schwannauer (headofschool.health@ed.ac.uk). In your communication, please provide the study title and detail the nature of your complaint.
If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact our Data Protection Officer who will investigate the matter. If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are processing your personal data in a way that is not lawful you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at https://ico.org.uk/.
Data Protection Officer contact information: dpo@ed.ac.uk
For general information about how we use your data go to:
https://www.ed.ac.uk/records-management/privacy-notice-research
Thank you for taking the time to read this information.
If you have no further questions, please go to the next page.